January 30, 2011

"There were points in my life where I felt oddly irresistible to women. I’m not in that state now and that makes me sad. But I also believe that a lot of the improvements in my character have come through ageing and the diminishing of powers. It’s all a balancing act; you just have to get used to the ride."

Younger, I used to spend much time at the Art Institute of Chicago, and at the end of the day was always more affected by the thought of the artist alive, thinking and manipulating, making in deed the piece which had most affected me than the piece itself; and always at least one woman's presence I had had the fortune of crossing would easily trump them both. Older, I enjoy museums even more, and being honest, the order of the three remains the same.

Jack's 'chemical' powers have certainly waned over the years. Probably as he's got older the younger ladies think he's just a dirty old man so once past 50 Jack would 'appeal' to fewer females. I am sure Pierce Brosnan ( although not as predatory) would also feel the same as Jack.

@TWM "Cue the many, many male Althouse readers who don't factor them into any of their decisions, plans, actions, etc. Fibbers all . . ."

Nicholson didn't say any of their plans, but all their plans. ("everything they do and everywhere they go")

I work about 12 hours a day, not to meet or see babes, but to make some dough. The remaining time between 6:15 and 10 pm, when I sleep, is spent cooking, eating, cleaning up, chauffeuring, going to meetings, and fixing broken stuff in the house.

Women are factored in only in that some of this is done at their request.

It’s true that Nicholson’s face doesn’t betray his past like Richards’s does. Yes, he has a hedonist’s paunch and greying hair, but he has few lines and could easily pass for a man 15 years his junior.

Few lines? Really? Those photos tell another story.

Wasn't it at Nicholson's house where Roman Polanski raped the 13-y/o? Stories like that make me question his understanding of "irresistible to women". I do not understand admiration of Nicholson.

It begs the question to say that he was only trading on his wealth and fame. Wealth and fame are harder to pick up than girls....I have more respect for a guy like Paul Newman who made his marriage work over decades. You can argue that spending years getting to know all the phases and intricacies of a single woman is a greater adventure than the monotony of endless promiscuity and sucking in one's tummy on the first night. On the other hand, fate grants very few men the opportunity to bed an endless succession of starlets and models. It seems almost blasphemous of God's will not to take advantage of such good fortune.....If there are any models or starlets present, I would appreciate their help on how to resolve my indecision on this matter.

No offense Althouse, but I don't think of you foremost as a woman. You are too good at mocking, smirking, scoffing , analyzing people, places and things. And you do it often. These are not the most common womanly traits.

Exactly. When I say women are stupid, it's not some sexist bit of business but from living a life most men have no clue about. Even as a mid-level rock star, I had them lined up around the block. (I went over to my drummer's house one day and he had one cleaning his floor with a toothbrush.) Women will do anything to be close to someone who can accomplish something - or do you think Bill Gates just became strikingly handsome one day?

I can flirt - I'm even good at it - but, after 20+ years of being a recording artist/band leader/member - and then my ex's actions after I ignored other women during all those years - it's the farthest thing from my mind.

I watch other men, breaking their necks to catch a glimpse of someone, and I either laugh or feel pity for them. I laugh because they're comically silly, and pity because they're the perfect representatives for why feminism has made such inroads to fucking up their lives. I've never been one of them and I never will:

I don't chase women - women chase me.

And, if men were smart, they'd get back to doing things that would drive women to behaving like it's perpetually Beatlemania, but, instead, they're too busy - trying to look wimpy enough to be in "the friend zone" (Oh, no!) - hoping to get close enough for a sniff. That's just idiotic.

In fact, in making a list of activities that my husband and the husbands of my friends do without their wives, I can't find a single activity that includes women. In fact, I'd say the activities are those where they are the least likely to encounter any women at all.

When not seeking new sex partners, most men seem to avoid women in general or to at least be indifferent to their presence.

Freeman Hunt: In fact, in making a list of activities that my husband and the husbands of my friends do without their wives, I can't find a single activity that includes women. In fact, I'd say the activities are those where they are the least likely to encounter any women at all.

And think about traditional cultures with their highly segregated sex rolls: "This is men's work, go away and do women's work". Not seeing the opposite sex was the basis of society!

But I'd like to point out that if you read the entire interview you might conclude something different than most have here.

Note that he speaks of having been taught manners by his erstwhile mother/grandmother and of liking being in the presence of women. I infer a more Oedipal interest in women, or even a motherly interest in women from Jack.

Certainly he means men have a sexual interest in women. This is true on its face. But I also infer that he means that men also seek the attention of women as motherly influences too.

Unless, of course they're going hunting or to ball games. Those are our times of freedom.

My name is James...James Bond. And the beauty queen was bedded by midnight. Those were the days. And James got to ditch them with no problems. Then Lee Marvin pioneered Palimony and it has been downhill since.The answer is the 55+ ladies. They will do you good and not harm since they want to keep you around. The younger ones are usuallyl playing in a Gold diggers ponzi scheme

I think Nicholson is projecting a bit. He's a wealthy celebrity, which for many young women is a major aphrodisiac, and while he has maintained a busy film schedule it is also true that he has basically played the same character over and over.

The rest of us have to work for a living, so we must continually adjust to changes in our workplaces from technology, or corporate takeovers, etc. And many of us men have found the one right woman and don't go hunting for opportunities to "see women."

Freeman Hunt, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but...you know those fishing trips that your husband and his buddies make to Lake Superior every spring? The night before they visit a strip club in Muskegon. And it's the highlight of the trip.

If women knew what it was like inside the mind of a man, they'd all become lesbians.

Freeman Hunt, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but...you know those fishing trips that your husband and his buddies make to Lake Superior every spring? The night before they visit a strip club in Muskegon. And it's the highlight of the trip.

If women knew what it was like inside the mind of a man, they'd all become lesbians.

Ha, Pasta, your comment reminded me of a trip I took back to the States without my wife one year. I'm on the plane, hanging in the dining area with a group of guys, doing the "Why are you here?" thing when I tell them I'm going home alone to work. Immediately, they all start doing the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" shit, looking like the bunch of malevolent dorks they were, and telling me it was definitely time for me to get back to my seat. When I told them, no, I was just going home to work - there'd be no "on the side" activities - they seemed to become confused, lost, and a bit angry at me, like I had let them down or something. I felt sorry for them. I guess I've always felt sorry for men who don't live up to their mantle.

So, that's what goes on in the mind of this man, and - you're probably right - that those other guys are probably talking everyone into "alternative lifestyles" because, let's face it, who would want to be like them?

Oh yea - the folks in "alternative lifestyles" - and they're working really, really hard to get there.

Freeman Hunt, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but...you know those fishing trips that your husband and his buddies make to Lake Superior every spring? The night before they visit a strip club in Muskegon. And it's the highlight of the trip.

Reminds me of my sister's experience. Her husband got into bird watching. Occasionally, he'd go on group outings where they counted the varieties of birds in a wild life area or such. He took his secretary along for evening pleasures. He's married to her now.

It's just like how some women are into running down their husbands. They get together with other women, and all they want to do is trash their men. Then when someone in the group doesn't play that game, the other women are put out.

Or, another female version example, single women who will date married men and single women who won't.

If women knew what it was like inside the mind of a man, they'd all become lesbians. […]

“I spent most of my money on wine, women and song. The rest I just wasted.”

I was talking to a lesbian friend the other day, who said much the same thing — but wasn't nearly so sanguine about it, having on more than one occasion in the first gush of love transferred her life savings into the control of her partner — with nothing now left of either her savings or the relationship.

She's managed to avoid making that mistake with her present partner — who didn't understand at all her reluctance to do so — but after several years is now locked in a sexless relationship with her. How many men have seen that before?

Now she's nearly homeless.

I wonder if the result of such experiences might allow many lesbians — at least the non man-haters among them — to empathize and sympathize with men's situation more than most women possibly could.

(It turns out she also knows the woman doctor [well, PA] that I've been going to, and on comparing notes we discovered that we both thought she was hot and wanted to ask her out! I thought that was pretty funny.)